Two Years Later, Florida Still Hasn’t Given This Death Row Exoneree a Dime

Two years ago, Clemente Aguirre walked free after spending 14 years in prison — including a decade on death row — in Florida. Mr. Aguirre was exonerated from a murder conviction by DNA and other newly discovered evidence.

Since then, he has been building a new life with his girlfriend and his dog Puko, whose name is a Mayan word meaning “freedom.”

“I’m so happy that another year of freedom has gone by,” Mr. Aguirre said.

But, despite the joys of the past two years, things have not been easy since his exoneration. Mr. Aguirre still has not received compensation for the years he spent wrongfully incarcerated. In fact, Florida’s law denies him compensation. The state enacted legislation to compensate wrongfully convicted individuals in 2008, but since then, only four exonerees have been compensated, although more than 30 people have been exonerated in the state.